Samantha Palmer: Guilty plea to Hugo Ball Bellevue Hill stabbing

Bloody mayhem erupted inside a Bellevue Hill mansion, when a mum took a butcher’s knife to her son and stabbed him. For the first time, the events leading to the attack have been revealed.

The night of November 20, 2020 began in what could only be described as normal, with Samantha Palmer sitting with an alcoholic drink on the front veranda of her Bellevue Hill mansion, talking about the day with her husband James Tilley.

Agreed facts tendered to the local court on Thursday after Palmer pleaded guilty to reckless wounding revealed her son Hugo Ball had returned to the family home three weeks earlier.

He spent that Friday night celebrating a friend’s birthday at the nearby Watsons Bay Hotel.

Mr Ball’s sister and Palmer’s daughter, Daphne Palmer-Ball, arrived at the mansion about 10pm and after speaking to Palmer and Mr Tilley, retired to bed.

Samantha Palmer at an earlier court appearance. Picture: James Gourley

Hugo Ball. Picture: Gaye Gerard

About 30 minutes later Mr Tilley also called it a night and left for bed, leaving Palmer alone on the front veranda.

The agreed facts stated Mr Ball returned to the mansion about midnight, and spoke to his mother on the front veranda.

About 90 minutes later Palmer stabbed her son “multiple times” with a butcher’s knife, with his screams waking Mr Tilley and Ms Palmer-Ball, court documents state.

The court was told that when police arrived at the scene, Palmer said words to the effect of “he’s threatening me, he’s hurt people, he’s going to hurt me”.

Emergency services at the scene of the stabbing. Picture: Gordon McComiskie

Mr Ball was standing near the front door, holding his heavily bleeding right shoulder, and said “she stabbed me”.

Mr Tilley used a tea towel to tend to the wound as he called emergency services, as Ball’s sister forced Palmer into a bedroom where she repeatedly said “he’s threatened me. He was going to hurt me”, court documents state.

Mr Ball was taken to hospital following the stabbing. Picture: Gordon McComiskie

Ms Palmer-Ball replied “you’ve got just as many issues as he does … you just stabbed Hugo”.

When police arrived they saw a pool of blood on the tiles and the knife, with a 21cm blade, laying on the front veranda.

Palmer was arrested and told police the stabbing was in self-defence.

When photographed at the police station, she didn’t appear to have any injuries or marks to her body, the agreed facts state.

Mr Ball was rushed to hospital where he was treated to stab wounds in the back of his neck and shoulder.

A month later in an unrelated incident, Mr Ball damaged shutters at his biological father’s Paddington home in which he avoided a criminal conviction for property damage.

Palmer entered a plea of guilty to reckless wounding in relation to the incident, with the matter to return to court in September.